Improvement in permutation-locks



Patented Aug. 24, |875.

N.PETEns, PNuTD-umouRAPNEn. wAsNlNnTON. D C.

2 Sheets--Sheet 2.

D. K. M l l L ER., Permumion-Lock.

Patented Aug. 24,1875.

Friol DANIEL K. MILLER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN PERMUTATlON-LOCKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N o. l 67,008, dated August24, 1875; application filed May 15, 1874.

To allwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL K. MILLER, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,have 'invented certain Improvements in Permutation-Locks, of which thefollowing is a specication:

The objects of my invention are to simplify the construction -and toincrease the difficulty 'said tumblers on the rotation, or partialrotation, of the lock-spindle, as fully described hereafter.

The mainfeatures of my invention may be variously modified, and I haveshown in thev accompanying drawing two locks, in which the said featuresare embodied, the first, which I will now proceed to describe, beingillustrated by the sectional views, Figures 1 and 2, and face views,Fig. 3 to 9,- inclusive.

A is the casing of the lock, recessed for the reception of thepermutation disks or tumblers B, of which five are'used in the presentinstance, the said disks, instead of turning upon a central hub, beingfitted snugly into, and turning within, the trued interior of thecasing. Contact of the disks, one with another,

-is prevented by stationary distance-pieces a,

and each of the said disks has upon its periphery a notch, b, the wholeof which, when brought in line beneath a bolt, D, permit the latter tospring back into the case. The lockspindle, and driver F attachedthereto, extend through central openings in the whole of the disks, andthe said spindle is secured to, and is arranged to be turned by, agraduated knob, H, of the character commonly used in permutation locks.The annular tumblers have notches don their inner edges for thereception of a spring carrier or dog, F', which is used in connectionwith the driver F. This carrier or dog` extends across and slides in adirection at right angles to the axis of the driver F, with which it ismaintained in contact by a spring, as best observed in Figs. 2 and 4.The driver F is recessed upon one edge, so as to form an inclinedshoulder, h, and four abrupt -shoulders or steps, ,one less than thebler B. In operating the lock to withdraw the bolt,

the driver F -is first turned in `the direction of the arrow, Fig. 3,until 'the dog F has been pushed outward to its fullextent by theshoulder h, and has entered the notches d of all the tumblers, as shownin Fig. 4, and the move' ment ofthe driver is continued inthesamedirection until the dog F drops onto its first shoulder i, as shownin Fig. 5, when the movement is reversed, and the driver, dog, and wholeof the tumblers will be turned inthe direction ofthe arrow until thenotch b of the first tumbler ,B has been brought opposite the bolt,which is determined by a number on the knobor case. The movement of thedriver is then reversed until the dog'drops onto its second shoulder orstep i, which will release the tirst tumbler B, as shown in Fig. 6, andthe movement of the driver is then continued in the same direction asbefore, vin order to set the second tumbler, and so on through theseries, as indicated by the diagrams, Figs. 7 and 8, the spring-boltdropping into the notches b of the tumblers when all of the latter* havebeen brought into line, as shown in Fig. 9.

To shoot the bolt outward, it is only necessary to turn the tumbler B3in a direction the reverse of that indicated by the arrow in Fig. 9,when the inclined or beveled edge of its notch b will act upon and pushoutthe bolt, and by continuing the movement of the driver all thetumblers will be thrown out of line with the bolt.

The inclined or beveled shoulder 71,V ofthe driver serves to force thedog outward and into the ,notches clv of the tumblers, whenthe saiddriver islturnedin the direction of the to pick up and drop the saidtumblers by the. simple rotation or partial rotation of the lock- Thelock, consequently, is much less.

spindle. complicated than those of ordinary construction, and a muchless extended movement of the driver is required to operate thetumblers,

so that the number of the latter can be in.

creased without unduly complicating the movement of the graduated knob.

It will also be noted as an essential feature "of the lock, andone inwhich it diiers materially from those of ordinary construction, vthatthe tumblers are set by a nearly continuons movementof Ithe driver inone-direction, `and that the graduated knob and lock-spindle have simplyto be rotated, -or partially rotated, to the extent rdemanded by thecombination, without being drawn in vor out.

l In theklock illustrated `in Figs. 10, 11, and "12, a carrier or dog,F', is used, but the lat rter, instead of being at lright angles to theaxis of the driver, slides in a direction paralrlel with the same, sothat the 'steps kon 4the dog are unnecessary, the latter being perfectlyplain, and releasing the tumblers one `at va time, after setting them,'by descending the: *steps fi'of the driver, which in :this case areupon-the end of the latter, and-being forced outward so as to'engage withall the tumblers by an inclined shoulder, h, also onthe endfoi" "thesaid driver.

The diagrams, Figs. 13, 14,15, 16, and '17,

'illustrate the successive movements of the'seuv- -"eral `parts inoperating the lock last'described. The combinations maybe changed in1either I "ofthe modifications described lby reversing or v:altering therelative'arrangementfof the tumblers, as in-ordinarypermutation-locks,or each tumbler ymay consist of two v'annulantoo'thedsections, mand mtitted together',andrendered fadjustable,one upon vtheother, as shown in Fi g."3, in-orde'r'to change Kthe 'relative positions4rof the 'internal andexternal notches wand b, "which willcorrespondinglyeifect the combination. Imake no claim :to this feature,however.

In permutation-locks, p as heretofore conylstructed,'it has beenpossible to open the lock lby twoentirelyditlerent combinations ofnumlbers,'one combination `to be used when the driver and tumblers areturnedin one direction forthe iirst'number, and the other-combinationwhen the 'said driverand tumblers are `turned "in the opposite directionfor the first number. This renders the lock much easier to pickthan 'if-it could be'opened by one combination of numbers only,'an objectionwhich I overcomey by'so constructing the parts that the ydriver can beturned in s'uchamanner as to-set'or bring the notches of the tumblersopposite the `bolt by a movement of the spindle in one direction only.For instance, when the spindle is turned in the direction of the arrow,Fig. 3, the carrier Fl will simply be moved in and out by the steps iand incline l1.,- but when the said spindle is'turned in the oppositedirection, the carrier must also be turned, and must carry with it oneor more of the tumblers, and set or bring the vnotches b opposite thebolt.

.It will be evident tha-t this same result can be attained without usingthe incline and steps.

A pawl-and-ratchet connection between the spindle and carrier may, forinstance, be used in some cases.

The usual plan of picking ordinary permutation-locks is to first set thewhole of the tumblers on so1ne imaginary combination, and to thenreverse the movement oi the carrier and lreadj ust the first tumbler,nearest to the latter, stepby step, without disturbing the remainingtumblers of lthe series until, by some internal Iclicking or otherslight indication, the operator ascertains that he has brought thenotch'of the rst tumbler opposite the bolt. He then proceeds 'tomanipulate the second tumbler in the vsame vmanner Without disturbingany of the others, and so on through the series until the truecombination has been discovered. This experimental manipulation isrendered possible from the fact that any tumblerof the series lcanlbeturned bythe carrier without disturbing those which are'more remote fromthe latter.

In my improved lock this is rendered impossible `by so constructing thecarrier'and its appliances that the -whole of the outermost tumblersmust be disarranged before an interme- -diate tumbler can be readj ustedafter having 1 'been'once set.

For instance, if it be desired to readjus't `the tumbler B2 (Figs. 3, 4,and 5) after the Yremaining tumblers B, more vremote kfrom the carrier,have been set, the dog F' must be'pushedoutward by the vincline h untilthe whole'of the tumblers have been disarranged beforethe said dogcan-be brought to a proper position for operating the said tuinbler B2.

Precisely the same lfeature is embodied in the modified -formof lockillustrated in Figs. 10 and 11, it `being vonlyessential to the carry-'ing out of this feature that the dog shall be so constructed as to beincapable of independent action on any single tumbler of the series'after the whole have been set infrespect to the bolt, withoutdisarranging those tumblers which are more remote from the dog ythanlthe'one which it is desired to readjust.

temes 3 blers without turning with the spindle, as set forth;

2. The combination, in a permutation-lock, of a driver atached to orforming` part of the spindle and having only a rotary movement, a bolt,an automatic carrier, operated by the driver on the spindle, and aseries of independent tumblers. whereby the said tumblers are turnedand. adjusted in respect to the bolt by a rotary movement of the driverin one direction, for the purpose specified.

3. The combination, in a permutatioirlock,

' of a carrier, a bolt, and a series of rotating tumblers, Whereby tl1etumblers most remote from the carrier after the Whole series have beenonce set by the latter, must be again turned by the carrier before aseparate read- D.' K. MILLER. Witnesses:

WM. A. STEEL, HARRY SMITH.

